City teacher facing sex charge

Exploitation of a minor alleged

A popular teacher and coach at Fort Richmond Collegiate has been charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, Pembina Trails School Division superintendent Lawrence Lussier said Sunday.

The alleged offence covered a period from 2006 to 2008 with someone no longer attending the school, he said.

Lussier said the division sent home a letter to students and parents Friday informing them of the charge against Regan Moses, a social studies teacher and coach who has taught at Fort Richmond Collegiate since 1999.

"The charge is sexual exploitation," Lussier said. "The charge is for an offence that (allegedly) occurred between 2006 and 2008.

"The minor (allegedly) involved is no longer in school," he said.

Lussier said police notified the division Jan. 5 that Moses was being charged. Classes did not resume after the winter break until Jan. 9.

"These are allegations," Lussier emphasized. "We don't have much information at all about the investigation. They've given us absolutely nothing."

When word broke Friday that Moses had been charged, Lussier said, "the school sent out a message to the students as well as the parents that teacher Regan Moses has been charged with a criminal offence, and they named it."

Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Natalie Aitken confirmed that on Jan. 6, after a year-long police investigation, a woman turned herself in at a Winnipeg police station. She was charged with one count of sexual exploitation and released on a promise to appear in court.

The charge relates to an incident that occurred between February 2006 and February 2008, said Aitken, who would not release any details. The accused has not yet made a first appearance in court.

Lussier said Moses will be in court March 5.

He said Moses is on leave with pay because she is not allowed to be near a school pending the outcome of her court case.

"There's an undertaking she will not be near males under 18," Lussier said. "The important thing is, the teacher is not in school, and won't be until the matter is resolved."

He said the police investigation did not take place within Fort Richmond Collegiate.

The division's head of human resources has been meeting with Moses and her Manitoba Teachers' Society staff representative, Lussier said.

MTS president Paul Olson said Sunday he had been made aware of the charge and could not comment.

In all his years in public education, Lussier said, this is the first time he's encountered such a charge.

"I definitely haven't -- this is brand-new for me," he said.

Moses was part of the FRC delegation to the recent We Day at the MTS Centre. She has organized conferences and marches and involved students in numerous social-justice projects for Darfur, Haiti and other parts of the Third World.